Sustainability score turns world order upside down

The United Nations Human Development Index is the world's
all-purpose national scorecard, a single number that represents a
country's success at providing a decent life for its people. But
according to a Mongolian ecologist who feels his own country has
been led astray, it's time to update the HDI with a critically
missing component: sustainability.

"My country is likely to become one of the fastest growing
economies in the world, but the current HDI offers no encouragement
for it to grow sustainably," wrote Chuluun Togtokh of the
National University of Mongolia in a 16 November Nature essay.

Togtokh presents an alternative ranking system, one that adds
per-capita carbon emissions to the Human Development Index's standard factors of
life expectancy, adult literacy and per-capita purchasing power.
Carbon emissions are a shorthand for sustainability; though they
tend to be linked with income, countries like Norway and Singapore
show that high fuel consumption isn't absolutely necessary for
prosperity, and there's no correlation between fuel consumption and
health or education.

When the carbon footprint is added, the Human Development Index is thrown into
disarray. Australia, the United States and Canada all drop from the
top 10. The United Arab Emirates, Brunei, Qatar and Bahrain -- all
countries that score high on the standard HDI -- also fall. Rising
are Hong Kong, Sweden and Switzerland, while Norway stays on top.
"Anyone who has visited the Nordic countries will recognise that
moderation need not compromise a high standard of living," wrote
Togtokh.

Like any system that puts a numerical score on complex social
and economical circumstances, the Human Development Index has been
criticised for oversimplification. Togtokh's system, which he calls
the Human Sustainable Development Index, is no different, and it's
certainly possible to be carbon-responsible but overpolluting in
other ways. But at least it's a start.

"With Earth's human population reaching 7 billion in the past
month, it is reasonable to question the UN's true commitment to
sustainability," wrote Togtokh. "The HDI has shifted the target of
development beyond the almighty dollar; the proposed HSDI would go
one step further, and change the role models for development."

Comments

In the latest HDI the UK are 28th. Above us are Ireland (7), Iceland (14), Spain (23), Italy (24), and the Czech Republic (27). But praise be, we are one place above bankrupt Greece this year. I knew things were bad, but not this bad.